Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Join our talk about becoming more active in our efforts to conserve water, reduce waste, and live a sustainable lifestyle. Our special guest is Karen Acosta. Her graduate education in global sustainability, practical knowledge and her skills implementing innovative solutions, will give us ideas on how we, our communities, and businesses can start or even modify the effort to become more sustainable.
Small Changes. Great Impact. Thinking about protecting the environment, saving money, and sustainable living? Karen Acosta shares ideas to get you, communities, and businesses started:
Time Stamp:
01:15 Meet Our Guest
01:31 The Class Project That Changed Everything
02:02 Sustainability meaning-- in Simple Terms
03:23 What Sustainable Living Looks Like – Easy Way to Start
04:51 Impact on Our Environment
05:57 Shifting the Mindset: Education - Food waste, food storage, home composting or composting sites.
07:50 Simple Changes To Do Now
10:50 EWG.org – Environmental Working Group – Among other things, it categorizes what type of chemicals are used in products and how harmful they are for us and the environment.
13:29 Community Gardens
15:28 Sustainability: Good for Businesses
17:08 Community Impact: Involve the Younger Generation
18:20 Footprint Calculator: Helps you calculate how much resources you are using, and presents a plan of action
20:40 Simple Changes for Businesses
22:39 Social Media Outreach
23:46 Let’s do it! Future generations depend on it.
EWG.org - Resources:
Karen Acosta, MS Global Sustainability http://linkedin.com/in/karenacosta
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Rosie, Host: (00:01)
Introduction
Rosie, Host: (00:30)
Welcome back to Life 100 Podcast. This is Rosie, and it is so good to share this time with you. In today's episode, we're going to talk about becoming more active in our efforts to reduce the demand for natural resources by conserving water, reducing waste, and living a sustainable lifestyle. And our special guest is Karen Acosta, her graduate education in global sustainability, practical knowledge and her skills implementing innovative solutions will give us ideas on how we, as well as our communities and businesses can start or even modify the effort to become more sustainable. So Karen, welcome to the show.
K Acosta, Guest: (01:16)
Hi Rosie. Thank you for having me on your show.
Rosie, Host: (01:20)
It's so good to have you with us. This is a field that I think everybody should know how to improve the quality of life by adopting a sustainable lifestyle. So how did you get in this field?
K Acosta, Guest: (01:33)
I was introduced to sustainability on one of my classes while I was doing my bachelor's. I had to do a project, a research project on how the economy affected the society and how these two affected the environment. It clicked to me that this is something that we need to analyze as a holistic way. And I understand the importance of taking care of our environment.
Rosie, Host: (02:00)
Taking care of our environment, in simple terms, what is sustainability?
K Acosta, Guest: (02:04)
Sustainability means using our natural resources to meet our needs without compromising their resources of future generations. However, we have already depleted most of our resources, right now people are using the resources of five Earths, and we only have one. So that's a lot to think about .
Rosie, Host: (02:26)
That is so important to know, because sometimes we do things without thinking about it, things that have long-term effects for generations to come. So when you were in college and you were interested in doing this, how was that transition from your undergrad degree to now specializing in this field?
K Acosta, Guest: (02:43)
It was exciting because at that point, when I was introduced to the subject, it wasn't very popular and universities didn't have much programs about it. A couple of years after, I found a program--- ... and it's been exciting. It's been tricky at the same time because acquiring new habits, changing your lifestyle is not easy. It's a process, but at the same time, it's been rewarding because I know I'm doing my part as an individual to take care of the environment the best way I can right now.
Rosie, Host: (03:22)
And in that transition of doing what you usually do and adopting this new lifestyle, what sustainability living looks like, what are some of the things that are done to engage in this particular lifestyle?
K Acosta, Guest: (03:36)
There are simple things. You can start from making changes with your light bulbs. Instead of using the regular light bulbs, you can start buying LED light bulbs. When you brush your teeth, as simple as that, just shut your water out while you brush your teeth. You can save up from three to four gallons of water in one day, by doing this. And if you multiply that for all of the population in the world, you can imagine the big impact it can be. Recycling, it is a simple thing, yet, very complex. I would suggest to check with their cities and see what recycling programs they have. Some of them are mandatory. Some of them are optional.
Rosie, Host: (04:26)
Sometimes it takes effort because not everything is set, but that doesn't mean that you cannot participate in it. Sometimes we have to adapt new practices. I know here in Austin, Texas, where we are recording and you are in Florida, in Austin a few years ago, they adopted the measure of reusable bags. And it took us a while to get used to bringing your own bags. But then now we see the benefits and we are participating in that. What is the importance of doing this in the long run for future generations?
K Acosta, Guest: (04:56)
Everything that we do in our lives has impact to the environment. From the food you eat, the waste you produce. So everything depends on our nature. Our economy depends on our nature ---…. If you are conscious about this, if you think about it this way, where those things come from. If you have an understanding of the process, you're going to be willing to make changes because you understand that things are not going to last forever. And if you know where things come from and how much they are from there, you can now try to be resourceful and use less. So it's about being conscious on consumption. So it's shifting your mindset.
Rosie, Host: (05:45)
Yes. And in shifting that mindset, eventually will become part of daily decisions. How do we get people excited about introducing this to generations older than us and the younger generation? How can we can introduce this concept so that will be something that is just part of their daily lives?
K Acosta, Guest: (06:04)
Education. I think just talking about it, letting them see what we have ----- that we are not going to get to see anymore, that they're not going to get to see anymore. Simple things like snow--- ...mountains are melting and those beautiful views they used to have, showing them --- this is the way it used to look like. And you're not going to be able to see this anymore. It's educating, it's talking about it, it is creating consciousness.
Rosie, Host: (06:33)
Our current generation, some people do participate in recycling and they are conscious that things are changing and they are bringing up the next generation or introducing these to people who have not done that. For people who, for instance, are moving into a new location, what kind of things can they implement in the way they live their daily life, that can improve the sustainability and the conditions for the environment.
K Acosta, Guest: (07:03)
Let's start with food waste. We all generate food waste. We all have to eat, and let's be honest, sometimes food goes bad. Changes that you can start adopting is checking on the near locations where you're going to be and see if it has a composting site where you can bring your organic material, which is your food waste. So that food waste is not going to go to the landfields. And then you can start composting at home. They have the options. You can just --- your food in the bins and you accommodate it into the right environment, so it can break down and you can create fertilizers for your plants. That's a great option. And the reason, one thing is because 40% of Americans waste is food base. So that's a huge thing. And it's a big impact. If people start doing this.
Rosie, Host: (07:49)
What will be the process from selecting the products, what to eat, to the part that the entire cycle is covered?
K Acosta, Guest: (07:56)
The first thing, you have to be conscious and mindful, and trying to look for the clean products. They have these lists out there that say what's a clean product and what is a dirty product, which means --- which products you should buy organic because they have the less pesticides and chemicals ---- So there are few things like the green beans, strawberries, blueberries, those type of things, you should try and buy them organically ---. There is certain ways to storage your food. So it can last longer.
K Acosta, Guest: (08:48)
If --- goes bad and you have to throw it away. If this is the case, there are special composting bins that they sell. They can be small, or they can be big depending on the space you have. And you can put all the organic waste, egg shells, coffee grounds, like when you cut the apples and you have that left over ---, you can put that in there, instead of putting into the trash, you can put into the bin... ------- with soil, and... ------- start breaking down and start eating the food waste. And the after product is the fertilizer. They create nutrients and you can put this into your plant. That's a good way to do it. Depending on the space, you can buy a big one. You can buy a small one. And if you do the process correctly, this is going to be odor free, so you don't have to worry about it.
Rosie, Host: (09:44)
Good to know because that's some of the things that people are concerned sometimes.
K Acosta, Guest: (09:50)
... if you don't have the ability or the space to do composting, like I say, check with your local city and see if they have composting sites where you can bring your food waste over to them. I know, depending on where you live need to have companies that have a food waste pick up system. There are other companies that have the service to come pick up your food and they give you a bucket or a bin to put your food, --- You have to sign up for it they come pick it up and then they go and do the composting on your behalf. So there's some of the things that are out there that people can start looking.
Rosie, Host: (10:44)
What will be a good term to Google it?
K Acosta, Guest: (10:46)
Home composting.
Rosie, Host: (10:46)
That will be a good start. And besides reducing our food waste, what other things a person can do that is easy to engage without changing everything that they're doing at this particular time?
K Acosta, Guest: (11:01)
We can do simple things. Like you mentioned, bringing reusable bags to the supermarket. Anytime you go out, it's a good practice. --- ...bringing your own food container or your own silverware utensils so you don't have to be using plastic ones. At home, when you take a shower, you let the water run just like you can get warm, collect that water and put into your plants, bring your reusable coffee cup to the places. There's a lot of coffee shops that have a program, and they will incentivize you, keeping you some money back because you grow you own coffee cup, use your own straw, recycle, be conscious about the products you buy. There is a website that I really like to use that is called EWG. It stands for Environmental Working Group. And so what they do, they see what type of chemicals are being used in these products and how harmful they are for us and the environment.
K Acosta, Guest: (12:05)
And once they analyzed that, put them into three categories: the green one, the yellow and the red one. If your products are only the green one, you're good. They're good for the environment. And they're not harmful for you. If they're in the yellow, there's certain things that you should be aware of. That can be a little harmful, but nothing out of the ordinary. But if they are on the red one, you should be concerned because this means they are really harmful for you and the environment. And they have most of every products like cleaning products, personal products. I sometimes go, and if I want to try a new shampoo, I go there and look for it and see what their rating is. Sunscreen. The cleaners that I use, I Googled it and see which ones are the least impactful,
Rosie, Host: (12:51)
What a great information. So basically it's a resource to reference how good the product is for the environment. What is the website again? And how do you spell it?
K Acosta, Guest: (13:00)
EWG.org , Instagram @ewg_info
Rosie, Host: (13:03)
EWG.org. And that is the green, the yellow and red.
K Acosta, Guest: (13:08)
They let you know how good or how bad they are for you and the environment.
Rosie, Host: (13:13)
Excellent. And these are the things that we can implement right now. Now you, as a professional who has studied this field, and you can see things in the long-term, how do you see where we are now? And what are the things that you would like to see in the future?
K Acosta, Guest: (13:30)
So much. I would like to see the implementation of more renewable resources. I would like to see more retro thinking in our communities, meaning, I'll give you an example, using the composing subject ---... if you put it into the right environment, it's going to break down and you're going to produce biogas. You can use this biogas to heat, so it would be nice to see communities with these --- ...because that is a central point, where you can put your food waste and generate renuable energy that you can use, it will save you money. It will save the environment in a way from waste going to the landfield. And you can also produce a fertilizer just to help your plants. And we all helping each other. I would like to see more community gardens where people grow their own food, but they get into an agreement to do it, let's say my neighbor grows tomatoes and I grow spinach and we can exchange. So to have that exchange within communities and having them grow there, it would be really nice to see that, to see it more.
Rosie, Host: (14:48)
And that is something that I visit here in Austin, the community gardens. And it's so good to go there because not only you have a community that it's connecting the neighbors, but you have also the nutrition aspect, the education and the fun. And then you see something that started with nothing to something, how the food grows. And it's such a good opportunity to educate people who are not involved to invite them and show them how it is. And I know now there is a big effort on the media to show how simple that is and how everybody can participate. What else would you like to see moving forward? From this point?
K Acosta, Guest: (15:27)
I would like to see more companies joining the cause and creating less waste or providing their products in bulk, that you can take your own container and just fill it out with how much rice you need, for example, or however much detergent, you bring your own, and you're able to buy that way because you can imagine how much waste reducing, just doing that.
Rosie, Host: (15:55)
Are there places that that is in place already.
K Acosta, Guest: (15:59)
They are, they are very few places. Where I live, I found two places that do it. People out there with business ideas, there's one for you. You know, there's other countries that have already run that way. It would be nice to see that in here as well.
Rosie, Host: (16:15)
And they have had positive results. They have seen progress made.
K Acosta, Guest: (16:18)
They do, they are reducing costs. First of all, companies--- ...don't have to worry about packaging costs and groceries are saving as well, because they don't have as much waste to send to landfill. They don't have to pay for that. The environment is affected in a good way, because again, there's not waste being sent to it. And then we just have cleaner products.
Rosie, Host: (16:40)
And what else would you like to see? And what way can we educate from this point on?
K Acosta, Guest: (16:46)
I would like to see coffee shops improving or providing more programs to incentivize people to use coffee cups. Plastic or paper coffee cups are just, I think, problems as well.
Rosie, Host: (16:58)
Right. To bring their own cup, like some type of incentive for the customer to bring their own cup and reuse it that way. I can see the big difference, definitely.
K Acosta, Guest: (17:07)
I would like to see more people going outside in nature and cleaning their own communities, making cleanup plans with their own communities. There are countries really good about it. It would be nice even when people are going outside and enjoying nature and understanding why it's so important to take care of our environment. I would like to see our children building these things as well. Not just as adults, but teaching children how to grow food, how renewable energy work. Educated them since they are little. So they can grow with this and make that just become a habit. And their lifestyle.
Rosie, Host: (17:44)
Absolutely. From education to organizations, to businesses, to our own home. Everybody can contribute to reduce the demand for the natural resources, because you mentioned statistics at the beginning of the show. That is very impressive is that we are one Earth, but we using the resources of five. You mentioned of five. By changing the way that we do things by engaging in these lifestyle, how that can improve that statistic, how that can reduce the usage that we have right now?
K Acosta, Guest: (18:19)
I encourage people to go and do a footprint calculator on themselves, and see how many planets we will need if we would live the life they live.
Rosie, Host: (18:31)
How do you do that? Can you tell us more about that?
K Acosta, Guest: (18:33)
Yes. There are a lot of footprint calculators, but a simple one is footprintcalculator.org, and what they do is they ask you a little questionnaire about your lifestyle, then how many cars you have, how many miles you drive, the food you eat, where you will be, all about your lifestyle. It helps you evaluate and see how much resources you're using. And it will tell you, you're using two Earths or three Earths or one Earth, and it will give you a starting point where you can start doing small changes. Where is your big impact on right now and how you can start making small changes? I like to encourage people to do those footprints because you'd be amazed.
Rosie, Host: (19:19)
They give you a plan of action and guidance of this is where you are. This is what you can do, and this is how it can improve. It's so easy to see. I'm so glad you mentioned that. That is a great resource to implement right now and start making a change. Absolutely. I saw something that it has just three words, reduce, reuse, and recycle. And that is so inducive in everything that you do. If you keep those things in mind, it can change the way that you do things. Now, when you first found this subject of study in college, to the point where you are now, how meaningful is this for you as a contributor, living in this planet?
K Acosta, Guest: (20:02)
It's everything I feel as the human being, as individual, I have a responsibility to take care of what is given to me --- ...and if each person would do that, it will have even more meaning because the impact will be bigger. I feel satisfied because I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, what we own to future generations. We own them the right to enjoy the things that we have been able to enjoy. I want them to enjoy this. I have to be mindful about it. I have to be responsible. That's the meaning that it has to me.
Rosie, Host: (20:40)
What are some more examples you can do for small businesses and organizations?
K Acosta, Guest: (20:44)
It's fairly simple, looking at your waste. It's really looking depending on the business, where do things come from? Where are you purchasing? How are those things being created? What is behind the whole production process of your product, of your business. It is harmful to the environment? If it's not, can you make changes to those options that are not as big impact in the environment? So start looking on those things, implement programs to educate your workers. Simple habits that you can put them in practice. It's proven that if you have a sustainable business, as you follow sustainability practices, the return of investment is going to increase. You help the environment. And you're also helping creating change within that society. Simple things --- …you have to pay for how much waste you put into the landfill. If you work into reducing the waste, you saving money already. It depends on the companies. How much could be saving? If you have a good energy system within your business, you are going to save money on electricity bills and you reduce your carbon footprint.
Rosie, Host: (21:55)
And making it a part of their business plan. Just to start from the beginning or to make changes, to have a permanent change in the activities that are done every day to improve it. From now on what will be the ideal situation you'll see that we are heading in the right direction?
K Acosta, Guest: (22:12)
Support from our leaders, our communities implementing renewable resources, renewable energy, more companies making more changes. People buying products that are really sustainable. Generations right now are actually paying more attention to that. And they are requesting businesses to make those changes so they can buy these things. People in general should start changing the mindset.
Rosie, Host: (22:38)
And in the age of social media, which is a lot of the activities that goes on a daily basis, what kind of things can they start so that people can see the things that they can do, and they get excited about it.?
K Acosta, Guest: (22:43)
If you go for a clean up, post about it. I've seen it gets attention of people when you have a full bag full of garbage that you've picked up from the street and you showed them and people are like, "Oh wow, that's a lot. I want to go and collect as much or double it." Post what you're doing it. What are you doing as a person? Share your experience. I was doing these and I now start doing it this way. And these are the positive things that I've seen about it. You create curiosity and more people are going to start trying it. Research about things in your community that are happening and just post them ---. Or if you see something new, a new program coming up, post about it, talk about it. I just want to encourage everybody to --- be conscious on how we purchase, on how we live, on the changes we do and choices we make, and not take for granted our natural resources.
K Acosta, Guest: (23:45)
Talk about it, research, educate yourself. It can become a lifestyle and, it's going to have a great, great impact. Please think about your future generations, and that you are taking care of the environment and give them your opportunity to enjoy the things that you have been able to enjoy and nature that you have been able to enjoy. It is in each and every one of us to do something about it, to make our part.
Rosie, Host: (24:09)
What a beautiful way to conclude this episode. Thank you so much for been in my show. You know, that you're always welcome to come back with new ideas, new programs, just to keep us involved and to keep us informed on the things that we can do so we can bring more exposure for future generations and for the generations that are participate in it.
K Acosta, Guest: (24:28)
Thank you, Rosie. Thank you so much.
Rosie, Host: (24:31)
What great information and ideas Karen shared with us. I am inspired by her contribution and determination to make a difference by adopting simple actions that will have great impact in our generation and generations to come. So until next time, thanks for listening and like comment, subscribe on the website or on IG. Go ahead, stay in touch because life 100, here we go!